Forever
by ScifigeekET
Summary: Forever is always running. Always alone. Now, she has one hope for control over the ability that took everything from her. Peter Petrelli.
1. Running From The Past

Forever.

That was her name. Forever. As in, Forever and ever. Happy endings. I'll be with you Forever.

Or Forever running.

Forever scared.

Forever trying to get away from what was hidden in her mind.

Forever sighed and looked at the sunset. It would be dark soon. She could hide again.

She started to run.

* * *

Sandra looked around the house. Ash littered the place. Dust filled the air. The walls were black. There was nothing left undamaged in the house. It was just… destroyed.

"This is her work." Noah Bennett came into the room after looking further around the house.

"Forever?" Sandra sighed. "This girl needs to be contained. Quickly." Her voice was without emotion, her eyes blank. 

Noah looked around the house. "Any idea on the parents?"

"Dead. Both of them. They're in the other room, if you want to look."

Noah shook his head. "I'll take your word on that." He looked at her. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He looked at her. "I'd think it would be a little… close to home, wouldn't it?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Noah, it's been ten years. I think I can handle it."

He raised his hands, surrendering. "If you insist."

* * *

Forever glared at the splinter in her hand. A flash of heat seared through her palm, and the wood disappeared.

She sighed, watching the light on her hand intensify. She imagined it growing brighter and brighter, hotter and hotter, until it enveloped her entirely, destroying the city in a blast of red fire…

She shivered, and the glow died down. She looked at the ground. All around her, the grass had died.

She glared at her hands. "This is all YOUR FAULT!" She snarled. The glow started again, then spread away from her in a small wave. Not big enough to hurt anyone, but certainly large enough for her to release some of her anger.

She collapsed to her knees. She hated what she was. She hated what had happened to her. She hated this… this power. This ability. She hated it.

She started to run again. She was the radioactive child. What could she do about it, except run? Run as far as she could and hope that, somehow, someway, she could control it?

Unless, maybe, there was someone who could help…?

* * *

Peter Petrelli listened to the person knock on the door a few times before he finally decided to stand up and go towards it. He sighed and opened it.

Standing outside was a young woman. Her eyes were red-rimmed. She was soaked, and looked like she'd been in the rain for hours. "A-Are you Peter Petrelli?"

Peter looked at her. "Who wants to know?"

She swallowed. "My name is Forever."

* * *

Peter didn't know why he'd let her in. She'd just seemed so… helpless. And it wasn't as though he couldn't take care of himself is she ended up some insane killer or something.

She shivered. "I'm really sorry about bursting in on you like this. I just… didn't know where else to go."

He nodded. "It's ok." He looked at her. "What happened to you, anyway?"

She chuckled softly, darkness in her eyes. "I don't know if you'll believe me."

He smiled. "Trust me. There's nothing you can say that I won't believe."

She looked at him for a long time, then sighed. "Have you ever had a secret? I mean, one so big you can't tell ANYONE? And… and what if that secret just… just takes control of you, and you can't… can't stop yourself…" She trailed off as her hands began to glow.

Peter's eyes widened, everything becoming clear. He was at her side in a second, trying desperately to calm her down. "Shh, shh, shh… it's ok. Just keep calm, it's ok, it's ok…"

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Slowly, steadily, the glow dimmed, before disappearing entirely.

She sighed and opened her eyes, turning to look at him. "Sorry." She whispered.

"It's ok."

"But… do you understand now?"

He nodded. "You're radioactive. Trying to stop yourself from exploding every day isn't exactly fun."

She sighed. "I've lost control more than once."

He nodded again. "I know how that feels."

She looked at him for a long time. "Can you… can you help me? I…I don't know where else to go."

He smiled softly and nodded. "Why not?"

* * *

_"Forever." Her father called her into the other room. "Come here, sweetie."_

_ She sighed and walked in. "Yes?"_

_ He looked at her for a long time. "Care to explain this?" He held up a wooden spoon, covered with as, burnt down in places so that it looked like a black handprint._

_ Forever felt herself panic, and forced herself to stay calm. "How would I know?"_

_ He raised an eyebrow. "Because I saw you trying to hide it yesterday." He looked at her. "Is there something you're not telling me?"_

_ She shook her head quickly. "No. I've never seen that before in my life."_

_ He sighed. "Don't lie to me, Forever. I know you did SOMETHING."_

_ "Nothing." She lied. "What do you think, that I just burned my handprint into a spoon just for the heck of it?" She snorted. "Please. Kinda expecting the impossible, aren't you?"_

_ He looked at her. "Yes… impossible…"_

_ Forever blew it off. "It's fine, dad."_

_ She tried to walk past him, but he caught her arm. "Forever…" _

_ She stiffened. "Let go of me."_

_ "Please, just listen."_

_ "LET GO!" She shrieked._

_ As long as she'd been alive, Forever had a problem with people stopping her from moving, restraining her in any way. And, ever since the eclipse, the one that changed everything, that problem had gotten worse. _

_ Her hands began to glow, the light traveling up her arms until her father was forced to let go as the radioactivity burned his hands. He cried out in pain._

_ But it was too late. Forever's mother entered the room, confused by the cry and the sound of arguing. But there was nothing that could stop Forever now. The light spread across her, flashing out in waves. "GO!" She cried, desperate to get her parents out of the house before she exploded._

_ But there was nothing she could do. The light intensified with each passing second, sending radioactive energy across the room._

_ And then she exploded._

* * *

"NO!" Forever snapped awake, her breathing heavy as she tried desperately to remain calm. Her hands were glowing, and she had to force them to go to their normal state again.

She sighed and curled herself into a ball, resting her chin on her knees. Tears flowed down her face as she spoke three words that she'd been avoiding, simply because the truth hurt too much.

"I'm a murderer."


	2. Hope For The Future

A/N: Hey! Sorry for not clearing this up in the first chapter, but this is after season one, around the beginning of season two. Or really anytime before Peter lost his original empathic abilities.

Forever swallowed. She hadn't slept since her worst memory had decided to show up in the worst place of all. Her dreams.

Peter knocked gently on the door. "Forever? Are you awake?"

She sighed. "Yeah." She replied, her voice cracking.

He opened the door. "You ok?" He asked. There was genuine concern in his eyes.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

He nodded back. "All right." He sighed. "You might want to get ready. We're going to work on your control."

"Sure. Why not."

He smiled softly. "I'll leave you to it, then." He walked out of the room.

Forever sighed. It was going to be a long day…

* * *

Sandra absentmindedly tossed a ball of water into the air, catching it with the other hand. "Hmm."

"Hmm? That's not very reassuring." Noah told her.

"It's not meant to be." She snapped.

He sighed. "Are you ever going to calm down?"

She whirled around, glaring at him. "Noah, I'm trying to find a radioactive girl who has killed before and undoubtedly will again. Forgive me for being a little TENSE." She snorted and whirled to face the window again.

Noah sighed again. "I don't want to do this to you, Sandra, but…" He looked at her. "You're off of this one."

"WHAT?" She shrieked, whirling to face him once more.

"You heard me. You're off. This is far too close to home for you."

She snarled. "It's not like that, Noah."

He sighed, pulling something out of his pocket. A tranquilizer gun. "Don't make me do this."

She glared at him for a long time. Finally, she spoke, her words filled with an undisguised venom. "Fine. I'll get off the case." She glared at him. "But you're making a mistake."

He sighed and let her pass as she headed for the door, slamming it on her way out.

"Ready?"

"No."

Peter smiled. "On three."

Forever took a deep breath.

"One."

She focused entirely on her hands, on the radioactive glow…

"Two."

Her hands began to tremble as the fierce energy sparked around them.

"Three."

She cried out as she sent the energy upwards, flaring around and above her, but not traveling too far.

"PETER! I'm losing it!" She cried. Panic filled her voice, making the situation seem worse.

He was at her side in a second. A sharp pain crossed her head, and she blacked out.

* * *

Forever blinked, once, twice, then a final time. She groaned.

"Why'd you knock me out?" She asked Peter, sitting across from her.

"Why'd you lose control?" He shot back.

"I couldn't help that!"

"No?" Peter's words were dark. "I think you could have." He glared at her. "Do you want to destroy the city?"

"Of course not!" Forever snapped.

"Then start FOCUSING!" He snarled.

She looked at him, surprised at how badly his words hurt. "What is WITH you? You know I can't control it! That's why I came to you in the first place!"

"Well, then! It's hopeless! You can't control it, let's just pack up and leave the city, because you're about it destroy it!"

She glared at him. "Come on, Peter! I need your help!"

"Then start THINKING for once." He replied, venom dripping from his voice.

She shot a look of hate before standing up, ready to try again.

* * *

Every word was hard. Peter hadn't wanted to be so harsh. She was just another hero who didn't have control. He could understand that. But he'd needed a teacher once. An irritable, cranky, invisible, and annoying teacher, as it turned out. A teacher who would constantly hit him with a stick until he did something about it. But a teacher none the less.

This was how he had learned to control his abilities, so this was how he was going to teach her.

But that didn't mean he had to like it.

* * *

Forever was furious. How dare he! She couldn't control it yet, she'd told him that. But here he was, expecting her to be in perfect control of her ability.

She muttered something under her breath, then focused all of her energy on staying in control.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried again.

The light danced around her, flaring upwards again. She struggled to keep it from going out, forcing it towards the sky.

Panting with effort, she tired to control it, to force the energy to die down.

Slowly, steadily, the light began to dim. She concentrated, it disappeared completely.

She smirked at Peter.

His eyes were dark. "Not good enough." He turned away. "Again!"

White-hot fury blazed through her. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to do it again." Peter replied, not bothering to face her.

She glared at him. She didn't know what happened next. All she knew was that her rage flew out in a furious blast towards Peter, who was knocked on the ground with a very undignified 'Ooof.' His skin was burnt, completely black.

Slowly, the skin healed, and he stood up and faced her.

He glared at her. "You don't have enough control, Forever. Not many people can walk away from that." He turned around again. "Now, AGAIN!"

* * *

In truth, Peter wasn't sure if he should have congratulated her or been furious with her.

After all, she had lost control for a moment, and that could be fatal.

But there were still other heroes to think about. If that anger could be focused into a blast like that against someone who was ready to hurt her…

"Forever!" He barked.

She whirled. "What?" She snarled.

"New plan. I want to see what you can do if you need to fight."

Her eyes widened. "But… but I'm no where near ready…" Her face paled.

He snorted. "Then be ready." Electricity sparkled across his hands. "You won't have time to think. Just act."

Forever swallowed, and her hands glowed. "O-Ok." She tried to keep her voice from trembling, but it didn't work.

Peter tried not to think of the young girl he was about to attack. She was only nineteen, after all. Everything instinct he had was ordering him to stop, to not hurt her, because she was helpless. But he ignored those instincts. He had to.

He snarled and launched at her.

* * *

Peter was right.

As soon as he'd launched at her, Forever didn't have time to think. Only act.

She dodged his first blow, a blast of electric energy towards her. Easy enough, but it wasn't over yet.

He ran, suddenly next to her.

She jumped. The glow flared away from her and towards him.

When it faded, he was gone.

Her eyes widened in horror, her face pale. "Peter? PETER!"

She felt a hand clamp on her throat. Peter appeared in front of her, one finger raised and pointed at her forehead. "You're DEAD." He snarled.

The anger in his voice didn't dilute the relief she felt. "I thought I… I…" Her voice dropped to a whisper, and she kept her eyes locked on her shoes. "Killed you."

His eyes were dark. "You shouldn't have worried. I'm the ENEMY, remember? I won't stop when it comes to killing YOU."

Her eyes popped, wondering if he really would do such a thing.

"AGAIN!" He snapped.

* * *

Forever was exhausted. Peter had insisted that she learn how to fight. He'd beaten her every time. After all, she had to hold back, or she could end up destroying everything in sight. But Peter didn't seem to care about that.

She couldn't understand it. Peter had been so nice when she'd first met him.

But now…

She was still furious with him. How could he expect so much of her? She needed him to help her! That was why she'd come in the first place!

She sighed and looked at her hands, glowing despite her exhaustion.

Peter knocked softly on the door. "Forever?"

The glow died, but her anger didn't. "What do YOU want?" she snarled.

He cracked open the door. "I… I wanted to ask you something."

She sighed and gestured for him to sit in the chair across from hers. She straightened as he sat down.

For a long time, no one said anything. Finally, Peter let out a long sigh. "Look, I know this isn't the best time to ask, but…" He looked at her.

She glared back.

He looked back down. "Who did you kill?"

The question caught her completely off guard. "What?"

He sighed. "I know you killed someone, Forever." His dark eyes searched hers, as though he could stare straight through her, into her darkest, most horrible secrets. "It would explain everything. Why you don't sleep. Why you have nightmares. Why you're so desperate to control this ability."

Forever sat there for a long time, wondering what to say.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He said, his voice soft.

She shook her head and swallowed. "I don't know…" She whispered.

For a long time, there was absolute silence.

Finally, she spoke. "My parents. And my little sister."

He nodded slowly.

Her face paled. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

Peter chuckled. "Of course not. What do you think I'd tell them?" He snorted. "Yeah, Police? I'm calling because this girl named Forever went radioactive and killed her family." He rolled his eyes.

She smiled softly.

He sighed. "It's ok. You're not the only one this has happened to."

She looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Really?"

He smiled darkly. "Getting an ability isn't always smooth sailing."

* * *

She started to run, tears streaking down her face.

"Where are you?" She kept whispering the question to herself, over and over. "Where are you?"

She kept running. She had to find out if she was alive.

Whatever happened, she had to find Forever.


End file.
